1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grease supply apparatus used for supplying grease to a necessary portion of industrial equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, in the industrial equipment, it is necessary to supply grease to various kinds of mechanical elements (e.g., gears, bearings and the like), and there is a known grease supply apparatus which automatically supply grease. It is also known that, when lubricant (grease) is supplied to a mold, an amount of grease to be supplied is metered and supplied (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-39512). There is a known method in which when grease must be supplied to two or more parts, an amount of grease to be supplied to each of such parts is monitored (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-83351).
According to these techniques, however, it is impossible to know whether the kind of the grease which is used is appropriate or not at the time of start of use. Especially in case of an apparatus in which a cartridge storing a given amount of grease is attached to a pump, there is no means for determining whether the charged amount of grease into the cartridge is sufficient or not or whether or not the kind and quality of grease stored in the cartridge have abnormality, which causes an operator inconvenience.